Surface reformation on solution-derived Zn-doped GaO films via ion-beam bombardment

In this paper, we demonstrated homogenous liquid crystal (LC) alignment on solution-derived ZnGaO films that have been subjected to ion-beam (IB) irradiation. To investigate the effects of the growth temperature of the ZnGaO films and the IB irradiation upon the resulting films, we conducted a series of physicochemical analyses. We found that amorphous ZnGaO films were obtained regardless of the growth temperature. These resulting films have a high transparency and can be used as LC alignment layers. Using contact angle measurements, the existence of residual solvents in the ZnGaO films was proven at a growth temperature of 200°C; the presence of these solvents adversely affected the electro-optical properties of twisted-nematic (TN) cells that utilized these films. At a growth temperature of 300°C, the best electro-optical properties for TN cells with IB-irradiated ZnGaO films were achieved.